Trails of War
by Feethei
Summary: Lelouch is the favored prince. His nation has a long history of constant war, but he would like to guide it to a path of peace. Suzaku is training to be a knight, but would rather help people as a doctor. No Geass. Suzakus POV. Most likely won't be continued, up for adoption.


**AN:**

**This is something I wrote quickly today. I've got a rule for myself that I have to do something writing related for a few hours each day, and since I didn't know what else to do… This is the result. **

**The prologue is mostly me figuring out the background information on the setting and characters. The first chapter is where the sory starts, but prologue may help in understanding it since I didn't put much setting information in there. **

**I don't think I'll ever actually continue this - I've got a bad habit of leaving fanfics unfinished and I have no idea where this would go anyway. Probably EU and Chinese Federation both starting a war with Britannia or something. Nevertheless, I thought I'd actually post something here for once, since I'm fairly happy with how this turned out. If someone wants to continue this, you may adopt it, just give me credit for whatever you take from it!**

**By the way, the name is entirely random. It just sounded nice. I could probably make a theme out of it, though… It'd fit Code Geass quite nicely.**

XXX

**Prologue**

I was born in Japan a few years before it ceased to be ceased to be within a few years, and I grew up in Area 11 of the Britannian empire. The takeover was violent, and there were pockets of armed resistance in Japan for years.

My father managed to maintain some of his status, mostly because our family controlled third of the sakuradite mining in Japan. He made contacts within the administration of Area 11. He became first an advisor and a public speaker, then part of the administration, and eventually the governor of Kyoto. Some called him a traitor for working with britannians, but for others it gave hope that their rule might not be so bad.

It was and it wasn't. Elevens were in no measure equal to britannians. Britannians ran the schools and elevens got education past primary school only if they had contacts or were extremely gifted. The justice system favoured the britannians and elevens had a much harder time keeping any kind of business afloat or getting hired for any but the most basic jobs.

But if there is anything britannia despises, it is losing resources - and that alone guaranteed that the situation was not hopeless. If you had talent, you got a chance to use it. If you were an employed and productive citizen, your chances of being discriminated against lessened measurably. That made the situation bearable enough for most people. They sequestered themselves in their own parts of the city, worked, and tried to keep their heads down.

Father had other plans for me from the start. There were ways to get into powerful positions even as a number. First was talent in politics, science or engineering, and contacts. Then there was wealth. It was less respected, but often enough by itself, as with it one could by proper contacts. The third way was through a successful military career.

The third option was clearly the one most suitable for me. I grew up practicing martial arts and kendo.

The finest of the britannian army, knights, all came from one elite school on the britannian mainland. They had a program for children of eight years and older, meant prepare them for the actual schooling. Their elite training program accepted children of eleven or twelve and trained them to be knights by the time they were considered adults. Both of these were mainly for children of nobility. Normal citizens would have to start at the very bottom of the army, then work through the ranks until attaining a officer status before they could even apply to the third training program, which was for officers in their late twenties.

Father could never get me to the preparation schooling, but finally he called in enough favours for me to be considered into the elite training program. They told father that if I scored at the same level as the kids in the preparation school in the entrance exams, I'd be allowed in.

The next year I had a crash course in western swordsmanship and martial arts, as well as britannian culture and protocol and firearms of all kinds. I was sent to mainland to take part in the entrance exams and did fantastically. I was not particularly surprised by this, but I was slightly taken aback that they kept their word and took me in. My opinion of britannians was not very high at that point.

In the autumn of 2011, I left my homeland. I was not really sad - I left behind a father I hardly ever talked with and a few casual friendships. Military training was not my lifes dream, but I knew I would be good at it. And father was not one to be denied.

XXX

I had expected to be an outsider at Knight Academy, and to an extent I was. During the first weeks some of the other students looked down on me, but as I continued to steadily beat them in training (Well, martial arts, firearms training and knightmare training. They had a far too great advantage when it came to any social aspects of knighthood. And in strategy I was perfectly average.) they gradually lessened.

I hung out with the other students sometimes, or at least the ones I liked. I didn't really make any close friends. Partly that was me keeping a distance from the others, partly others already having their own cliques. That was fine with me.

The Academy was situated in the outskirts of Pendragon, right next to the Royal palace grounds. Some members of the Royal Family visited there frequently. The second princess and Empress Marianne came sometimes with their own knights to train us in knightmare fighting. They and the emperor were often present at the end of the year when new knights graduated the school. They handpicked a few to serve as knights to the Royal Family and in palace guards. And the eleventh prince designed computer simulations to test our strategic capabilities. Sometimes he played the soldiers of the opposing side himself. He never lost.

The school year was divided into two five-month increments, both of which had four months formal training and one month of practical training. That could include anything. During the first year it was mostly guard duty, either in the palace guards or a number of other high-profile places. In later years it included being sent to assist the army in peacekeeping missions, serving in the city police and as bodyguards for high-profile visitors in the capital.

For the two free months, most students went home and enjoyed their freedom. At school, they were worked to the bone almost every day. Having a weekend off was rare, and we weren't allowed to leave the school grounds anyway until we were fifteen years old. So during the two free months of the year, most left and went home to relax, see their family and generally have a social life outside of their fellow students.

I went home, but every time I felt less and less like I belonged there. Father paraded me around like a favored pet, elevens with an anti-britannian mentality were more and more hostile and I felt increasingly set apart from any friends I may have once had. Spending most of my years in britannia meant I was not really an eleven anymore. My mannerisms and attitude were all wrong. But I wasn't really a britannian either. I didn't know things they knew instinctively and had been taught from early childhood. My knowledge about britannian culture was still spotty at best. And of course there was the fact that I looked clearly asian.

XXX

**1st chapter**

It was summer of 2017, end of my sixth year at Pendragon. My summer leave had begun - a glorious month free from training. I was flying back to Japan on the following morning. Most of my fellow students had left already.

I was walking aimlessly on the school gardens when I came across him. A dark haired young man dressed in elegant clothes, sitting in a secluded corner, his nose buried in a book. I recognized him, of course. The eleventh prince, a young genius strategist.

I was a bit uncomfortable with him, to be honest. Not that we had ever talked, but he had the sort of piercing gaze that made me feel he was constantly judging me.

I stopped immediately when I saw him and stated turning back, hoping he hadn't seen me. No such luck, of course.

"Mr. Kururugi", he said, lowering his book slightly. I wasn't surprised he knew my name - he always knew everybody. And remembered every tiny detail.

I had no choice. I had to turn to him and bow low.

"Your highness."

"Are you happy to be going back to Japan for your leave, Mr. Kururugi?"

"I am, your highness."

He inclined his head slightly, then spoke in smooth japanese: "Tell me, Mr. Kururugi, do you enjoy it here? Are you ostracized because of your different background?"

I was somewhat impressed by his japanese, even as I had to stomp down irritation due to the line of questioning. _Pretentious prick. _"I am not, your highness. Obviously I do stand out somewhat, but no instructor or fellow student has treated me poorly due to my background."

"That is good to hear. What is the reason, then, that you do not enjoy your life here?"

"Your highness, I do enjoy it here. It is an honor to be here."

"I know it is. Nevertheless, I have watched your performance for six years. You perform extremely well, even if you're not trying, which is probably why your instructors have not noticed your lack of motivation. But when you believe others depend on you, you consistently outperform every other student in the whole school. With some effort you could be the best student this school has produced in years."

"Thank you, your highness."

"If military life does not motivate you, what does?"

I took a deep breath. "I have always wanted to be a doctor."

"Ah", the prince nodded knowingly. "To save lives."

"Yes."

"Has it ever occured to you that you might be able to do both?"

"What?"

"Knights, especially the best of them, are given a rather free reign. If I were you, I would study medical texts as much as I could while still keeping my performance here at the top. Then, after graduating from here, I would approach my superiors and ask to be allowed to apply to medical school. The answer is likely to be yes, if you can demonstrate you can work hard. Soldiers know to appreciate doctors and medical training is very useful for a knight as well. Then you could save lives in both ways. Protect the empire and its citizens as a knight and heal them as a doctor."

I was shocked enough to be lost for words. The prince took in my expression, nodded thoughtfully and then lowered his gaze back to his book.

"You may go, Mr-"

"Brother!"

Both of our heads snapped to the direction of the shout. After a moment a teenage girl stepped to the path from behind the bushes. She saw the prince and started walking towards us. I didn't recognize her, but if she called the prince 'brother', she had to be one of the Emperors twenty-something children. I was probably supposed to recognize them all, but that part of my schooling had always been my least favourite.

"Brother, mother is almost finished. We'll be leaving soon." She stopped and smiled to me. "I hope I didn't interrupt!"

"Not at all, I was just finished with Mr. Kururugi anyway."

The princess offered me her hand and I bowed above it. "Good evening, Mr. Kururugi. I am Nunnally", she said. "Japanese?"

"I am, your highness."

"Great!" She said in fluent japanese. "I do not get nearly enough practice with my japanese these days. I do hope you'll correct me if I say something wrong, Mr. Kururugi."

"Nothing to correct, your highness. You speak almost like a native." I glanced at the prince, who had risen from the bench. "You and your brother both." Which was true.

The princess smiled. "Lelouch and I used to visit japan frequently when we were younger. We even lived half a year in Tokyo at one point. It was a long time ago. If you do not mind, could you keep me company while we walk to the front gates? Brother is no fun when he concentrates on reading."

The prince chuckled softly. I agreed. We talked about japanese culture for the duration of the walk. The princess was enthusiastic, relaxed and very friendly. She was easy to like. The prince commented on our conversation occasionally.

Two days later, after arriving home, I researched which texts were used in entry exams to britannian medical schools and bought them all. For the rest of the month I'd read them all evening whenever I wasn't required to socialize.

XXX

I'd been back at Pendragon for two weeks when I was summoned to a private meeting. Two other students from my year group were summoned as well - the two who were ranked higher than me. One was Gino, one of the few other students I was on friendly terms with. Gino was friendly with everyone. The other was Kallen Stadtfeld, a temperamental girl I hardly knew. Both were wealthy nobles, which made me feel somewhat out of place next to them.

We were joined by a younger student, a small teenage girl none of us knew. We waited for quite a while. Gino tried to joke and dispel the awkward feeling while both of the girls gazed out of the window.

When the door opened we rose and bowed deeply. The second princess Cornelia stepped in, followed by a man in the uniform of her royal guard.

We were told we'd been chosen for a special assignment. It would take at least one year for me, Gino and Kallen, and at least four years for the younger student. We would be expected to keep up with our normal studies and graduate in normal schedule. It was the last year for me, Gino and Kallen, which meant we might graduate before the assignment was completed.

"It is not common knowledge, but the Royal family traditionally sends all our children away from mainland towards the end of their education", the second princess said. "They are accompanied only by a bodyguard. It is both their last piece of freedom before they are expected to take on their full political responsibilities, and their first trial, as they are to learn about the lives of their subjects and complete their studies incognito. Usually every Royal child travels to a different place, but currently we have an unusual situation. Three of them are leaving for Japan together this year.

"You will be enrolled in the same school as them. You will function discreetly as their bodyguards. Miss Alstreim will be on the same class as the fifth princess, Nunnally vi Britannia. You will also be her roommate. Miss Stadtfeld will be rooming with the fourth princess, Euphemia li Britannia. Mr Weinberg and Mr Kururugi will be rooming together, next to the room of the eleventh prince, Lelouch vi Britannia. Miss Stadtfeld, Mr Weinberg and Mr Kururugi will all be in the same class as the prince.

"The school area should be perfectly secure, but you will still accompany them as much as possible. If they leave the school area, you are expected to guard them. None of them are any good in hand-to-hand combat, but all three are expert marksmen and carry a gun with them whenever they go. Prince Lelouch is also a remarkable knightmare pilot and strategist. He is your commanding officer for the duration of your stay in Japan. If the princesses are planning to leave the school area, you will inform him. If you run into any trouble you'll obey his orders. He will organize your schedules and training.

"You will not inform anyone of their identities or the reason of your stay in Japan. Japan is where our best knightmare development labs are situated. You are currently the best knightmare pilots in the school. If you need to state a reason for your stay, you'll say you're in Japan to test the new seventh generation knightmares. Which is also true - you'll get to test them as part of your training there.

"You'll be leaving for Japan in two weeks. A car will pick you up on saturday morning."

The two weeks passed quickly and soon it was time to leave. Gino shook me up early in the morning, full of joy and happy expectation. He'd told me he'd never been out of the mainland despite always wanting to. His enthusiasm was contagious. Even the girls smiled when we got out of the car on the private airport just outside Pendragon.

Princess Cornelias knight was awaiting us. He directed us to the right plane. Princess Cornelia was in, with three other people. The eleventh prince (Lelouch) and his sister (Nunnally?) and a girl who resembled princess Cornelia greatly (Euphemia?).

Cornelia hugged both girls and told them she was coming to visit in a few months. Then she shook Lelouch's hand and left. We took our seats on a row opposite to the royals.

The princesses started introductions even as the plane was rising to air. I learned that Euphemia was indeed Cornelias sister, Kallen had a japanese mother (funny how I'd never known), the young girl (Anya) had been a maid in the imperial villa as a child and therefore knew all the royals already and Gino was the only person present without a working knowledge of japanese.

Nunnally was just as friendly and nice as she had been when I met her for the first time. Euphemia was very similar - both radiated genuine gentleness and caring. They asked us to drop all honorifics immediately and were interested in all of us.

"We're going to live together for a year", Nunnally said. "Best to get to know each other."

"Besides", her brother said, "you're the best students in the academy. You'll all be rounds or personal knights for the royalty if you just wish. Therefore you're practically extended family for us."

I felt a little sceptical of this statement. It must have showed, from the looks I was given.

"It is true", Euphemia said. "A personal knight is not just a bodyguard or a servant. He is a confidant and a friend and an advisor as well. Personal chemistry and trust are extremely important in that sort of relationship. Cornelias knight Guilford is practically a brother to me."

"Fathers first knight, Bismarck, is also his best friend", Lelouch said. "He doesn't serve father because he has to, but because he wants to. His job is to protect his best friend and help him rule the country as well as possible. Both are jobs he'd do anyway. On top of it he has an enormous amount of influence and prestige. Father listens to him."

And so the flight continued, in relaxed atmosphere and laughter. At the end of the trip I caught myself thinking that maybe being a knight wouldn't be so bad.

Then I shook my head and dropped the thought out of it.

In Japan the three royals went into one car (they were to have dinner with the governor of Japan, third prince Clovis) while the other four of us got into another. Once at Ashford Academy we were welcomed by the Ashford family head. Then we took a tour of the school area and the campus and were shown into our rooms. It was still a week until school would start and the campus was blessedly empty.

Lelouch had a room of his own in the highest floor of the boys' building, with me and Gino rooming together in the adjacent room. It was a spacious, nice room, at least as comfortable as our rooms in Pendragon.

After Lelouch returned from dinner he checked that we were comfortable and informed us that we would have breakfast with the Ashfords, after which the princesses wanted to go sightseeing around Tokyo.

XXX

The first week passed quickly. We traveled around Tokyo and got to know the Ashford family. They had a daughter, Milly, who was a year older than most of us. And we trained. On tuesday the prince told me and Kallen that since both of us had family living in Japan, we probably knew how things were around here and should inform him if there were any problems that he should have to take up with Clovis.

On thursday the girls visited Kallens mother and brother. When they came back Kallen talked to the prince about the growing drug problems among japanese. Lelouch nodded solemnly. (In two weeks we would hear about the plans for a new hospital specializing in drug rehab, and still two weeks later most of the drug cartels in Tokyo area would be under arrest and the cartels elsewhere in the country would have gone into hiding.)

On the sunday before school started Milly reminded us that all students in Ashford were expected to belong to a club. Lelouch, Euphemia and Nunnally all debated it and decided they'd just join the student council. They told us we could join any club we wanted, but the four of us decided to join student council as well. We got enough sports in our training, which was scheduled for every sunday while the royals would visit prince Clovis, and on weekday evenings whenever possible.

The first student council meeting was on the first schoolday of the year. Milly was already out of school, but she had been the previous student council president and still lived at Ashford (she was taking a year off before joining politics or university or whatever she decided) so she accompanied us to the meeting.

There were three members, all from the same class as me, Lelouch, Gino and Kallen. We'd heard their names in class, but didn't know anything else about them, so Milly started us on a new round of introductions. After introducing herself as an example she poked Anya with her elbow.

Anya looked at Lelouch. I think we all did. We didn't know if we were allowed to disclose being knights-in-training.

"Fine", Lelouch said. "We'll be probably spending so much time together so I'll just tell you the truth. Just remember that this is not common knowledge and I do not want it to go on the grapevine."

The three student council members looked quite wide-eyed at that.

"Kallen, Anya, Gino and Suzaku are all from Knight Academy in Pendragon. They are the four top knightmare pilots on the school. I am something of an expert on knightmare combat and teach occasionally at Knight Academy. We're in Japan to test the new seventh generation knightmare frames. Nunnally is my sister - once she heard I was leaving she demanded to come with me. Euphemia is our cousin. She also wanted to come and apparently I never can deny either of them anything." There was a round of chuckles and Euphemia and Nunnally high-fived.

"I am Euphemia. I have an older sister. My father is in politics and we rarely see him. Mother is a stay-at-home mother. She's the sort of person who bakes cookies and tells you how wonderful your awful drawings are. Sister is in the military and she is practically the head of our family."

"I am Nunnally. Lelouch is my brother. Our father is in politics and our mother is a knight. They usually take a holiday for a few weeks two or three times a year and then we will spend a lot of time together. Otherwise they are away quite a bit, although never further than a phone call away. But we know not to contact them unless it is an emergency. They need to concentrate on their jobs. When brother was younger we'd have other relatives visiting constantly to take care of us and the estate, but since brother turned thirteen they have basically just let him take care of everything."

After that Anya told us about being an orphan and a maid before being sent to Knight Academy by Lelouch's and Nunnally's mother. Then Gino told us about his family in Pendragon. Kallen talked about her father (britannian noble living in Tokyo) and mother (japanese woman working as a cook, divorced from her father) and brother (studying at university).

I told them about my father and my fiancé - my cousin Kaguya. They asked about Kaguya and I told them she was Nunnally's and Anyas age and that the marriage was political in nature but we were good friends. (I actually was not sure if we would ever go through with the marriage. Kaguya was already a strong willed woman, after all, and she had plenty of time to fall in love with someone else and back out before our wedding would take place.)

Then the student council members introduced themselves. Nina was a shy girl with an interest in physics, Shirley was a friendly girl who also belonged to the swim team and Rivalz was the current easygoing student council president. I liked them all instantly.

XXX

We set into an easy routine after that. Student council would meet once or twice a week. On wednesdays we'd dine with the Ashfords and on fridays we'd meet to do our homework together. Saturdays were free and the princesses would usually make plans for the whole group. Sometimes we would be joined by Euphemias or Nunnallys friends. (Both were quite popular in school, although neither nearly as popular as Lelouch. It was clear to me that half the school had a crush on him within a week. Not that it was surprising - he was good looking, exceptionally smart, always unfailingly polite yet maintained an air of mystery around himself.)

On top of all that, and the usual training, we had the tests and development of the seventh generation knightmare frames. But that was not a chore, it was a pleasure.

We'd visited the engineering corps already in the first week, but just for a quick look-around. It was explained to us that there were three development teams which would co-operate as necessary. These teams had two seventh-generation knightmare frames which were 'ready' but untested. These two would be tested first, and then the data would be used to improve them and to construct new frames.

On the second week we tested the two frames to see who was most compatible with them. I was best with prototype Lancelot and Kallen was best with prototype Guren. We were ordered to spend several hours piloting them twice a week. Neither of us minded. They were brilliant machines. Such power and mobility together - it was magnificent. It was easy to forget they were weapons of war.

XXX

The first time we were actually needed, as bodyguards, was in late August. We were at Lake Kawaguchi for a four-day weekend trip. There were eleven of us - all of the student council and Milly. On thursday and friday the royals (and therefore us bodyguards as well) were to attend a summit while the four others relaxed. Afterwards we would all have the weekend free.

On late thursday evening, as the summit was ending, terrorists attacked the building. They had guns, which they waved around freely. Lelouch ordered us to act calm and to not give them any reason to start shooting at the people. So we did.

"We can't wait until they decide to start killing hostages", Lelouch murmured to us. "We need to take the guards down swiftly when I give a sign"

They rounded all hostages together and we were united with the student council. We were all ordered to kneel, with our hands over our heads. None of us had any obvious weapons and we looked like students, so they hadn't searched us.

"Good", Lelouch murmured. "We're all here. There's eight guards, seven of us. Euphy, Nunnally, take the two on left. Gino, Anya, back wall. I'll take the right wall. Kallen, Suzaku, front."

He gave a sign and we all drew weapons. Seven of the eight guards were down before they had a chance to realize what happened. The eight went down a second after.

I glanced at the guards the royals had shot. They had all went down with clean headshots - princess Cornelia hadn't been kidding when she called them expert marksmen.

"The army has probably gotten a distress signal but won't be here for quite some time", Lelouch addressed the room. "We need a defensible position. Not here, preferably somewhere the terrorists don't know about. If it has a window or something for easier evacuation, it would be a plus. Some of you work here. Any ideas of where we should go?"

It took a few minutes to gather answers and for Lelouch to judge them. Afterwards he sent me and Kallen ahead of others to scout the way.

Five more terrorists ended up as casualties, but we got the hostages to a defensible storage room with sturdy walls. Soon after the army showed up and the terrorists got other things to worry about.

It was early morning before the whole thing was over. All hostages were alive, all terrorists dead, captured or running away. The hostages, including the student council members, were all understandably shaken. The royals were just serious and grim. Lelouch made a few phone calls and got us three cars with drivers. We were back in Tokyo and sleeping in our own beds by midday.

Our names and faces were not shown on television, even though several of the hostages talked about us and the reporters wondered who we were. None of the student council members commented on what happened when we spoke to them on friday evening.

XXX

"The terrorist group that attacked Lake Kawaguchi was JLF", Lelouch said on saturday morning. "Cornelia is coming to Japan again and organizing an attack on their base. The troops are moving already - the attack will start on monday morning. We will all be there.

"Nunnally and Euphemia will stay on the command center. Kallen will take the Guren and Suzaku will take the Lancelot. It will be their first test on real battle conditions. The three of us", he nodded to Gino and Anya, "will have gloucesters. We're leaving early tomorrow morning. Be ready."

The battle was straightforward. It lasted six hours. There were a few casualties on our side and much heavier casualties on the other side. Some of the JLF fighters escaped but most were apprehended or killed. Lancelot and Guren both performed admirably. I got to see princess Cornelia and prince Lelouch leading an actual battle and knew immediately I'd never _ever_ want on their bad side. They were skilled, efficient and _frightening._

Afterwards, when Kallen and I had disembarked from our knightmares, Lelouch was waiting for us.

"Good job", he said. "Extremely well done. You're undoubtedly famished and tired. Euphemia and Nunnally have dinner waiting on their trailer. Gino and Anya are there already."

The three of us exited the trailer at the same time, but Lelouch turned to a different direction than us.

"Are you not coming, your highness?" Kallen asked.

"Not yet. I have things to do first."

"Do you wish us to accompany you?"

"Do as you wish. The whole area is full of britannian soldiers. I should be perfectly safe here."

Kallen and I exchanged glances. Then we set to follow Lelouch.

I do not know what I expected him to do, but not what he did. Our first stop was the tent where all our own casualties were taken. Prince Lelouch stopped by each body and was told the identity of the deceased. He memorized all of them. Afterwards we visited the deceased of the opposing forces and he did the same.

"They were britannian citizens", he said to me and Kallen. "It was not us who delivered the first blow in this fight. That was JLF. But it was us, the britannian royal family, who decided on this battle we had today, where these men died. We need to pay our respects for those that have died because of us, whether they fought for us or against us."

Still afterwards we visited the tent where the wounded were carried. As soon as Lelouch stepped in a knight sitting close to the entrance rose up and dropped to his knees.

"Your highness", the knight said.

There was a brief pause in the activity inside the tent and then nurses and doctors and patients started dropping to their knees.

"As you were. Please continue what you were doing", Lelouch said, smiling slightly. Then he continued to the soldier who had been the one to identify him. "Hello, Jeremiah. Sit back down. How are you?"

"Fine, your highness", Jeremiah said.

"Except your arm, apparently", Lelouch said, eyeing Jeremiahs left arm, which was on a sling.

"Just a minor fracture, your highness. It will be back to normal in no time."

"Very well. And have you adjusted well to Japan?"

"Yes, your highness. I do miss Pendragon occasionally, but I like it in here as well."

"And how is your sister?"

Lelouch took his time chatting with Jeremiah. Then they exchanged farewells and Lelouch walked around the tent. He exchanged a few words or polite nods with practically everyone.

Kallen, I and Jeremiah stood by the door and looked on while he calmed those that were in pain, made those that were sad a bit more cheerful and charmed everyone.

After a while, Jeremiah turned to look at us. "You are knights?"

"Not quite", Kallen said. "We are students at the Knight Academy. Last year."

Jeremiah nodded. "Here as prince Lelouch's bodyguards?"

"Among other things."

"Please take good care of him. I've known Lelouch for a long time. I was a guard in the Imperial Palace when he was younger. He is a great man and he truly cares for his subjects. As long as we have him I have no worries for the Empire. He will keep it on the right path."

"He is only the fourteenth in line of succession", I said.

"Ah", Jeremiah said. "Although I do not know the details, I do know that line of succession is not as straightforward as birth order. Prince Lelouch is practically everyone's favourite - the emperor included. And even if he is never the emperor, he will find a way to steer the Empire."

Looking at him walking among the wounded, I didn't doubt it at all.


End file.
